Attorney General Jack Conway and his Medicaid Fraud
and Abuse Control Unit today announced that a former Consumer Directed Options
(CDO) employee with the Kentuckiana Regional Planning & Development Agency
(KIPDA) has pleaded guilty to charges involving theft and fraud.

On Tuesday, Linda Smith, 66, pleaded guilty in
Jefferson Circuit Court to theft by unlawful taking under $10,000 and devising
or engaging in a scheme to defraud the Kentucky Medicaid program.Smith received a three-year sentence,
diverted for five years.

Smith worked as a CDO employee with KIPDA and
provided care for a family member in exchange for payment from the state
Medicaid program.The CDO program, which
is overseen by the Kentucky Department for Aging and Independent Living, serves
the non-medical home health needs of members of Kentucky’s home and
community-based waiver programs and allows members to choose who provides their
non-medical services.Smith is alleged
to have submitted false time sheets while working as a CDO employee and
received payments from Medicaid for services she did not perform, resulting in
a financial loss of more than $3,700 to the Medicaid program.

This case was investigated by Attorney General
Conway’s Medicaid Fraud and Abuse Control Unit and the Cabinet for Health and
Family Services’ Office of the Inspector General.It was prosecuted by the Office of the
Attorney General in Jefferson Circuit Court.

Medicaid
Recoveries

Since Attorney General Conway took office in January
2008, his Office of Medicaid Fraud and Abuse Control has recovered or been
awarded more than $260 million dollars for the state and federal Medicaid
programs. These cases range from lawsuits and settlements against
pharmaceutical companies to cases against individual providers.

In 2013, General Conway’s Medicaid Fraud Unit was
named one of the most aggressive in the country by the nonprofit watchdog group
Public Citizen.

The Attorney General’s tip line for reporting
allegations of Medicaid fraud is 1-877-228-7384.